STAGE AND SCREEN

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 35, 10 August 1933, Page 16

STAGE AND SCREEN

"Thi Rebel." After a three years' absence from the •crcen Vilma Banky returns in Univer-sal-s super-production, "The Rebel," a picture carrying .a beautiful romance. Photographed in the heart of the Tyrol, with the;,magnificent Alps as a background for thisjstory of'the inarch of Napoleon upon Italy, "The Rebel" has a cast of players, headed by ! Luis Trenker, who not only wrote the :. story but directed and acted the--leading male role himself. "The. Rebel" took six- months of intensive and hazardous filming in the Tyrol and Dolemite Alps,vandhas been produced in three versions, English, German, and French, withY Luis; Treriker playing the lead in each!case.■ . . ; .; Drama League Festival Now On. - ' Included in the list of plays by New Zealand'authors being produced at the Wellington Area Festival of the "British Drama League (now in session at the Blue Triangle: Hall; Boulcott Street), are five local plays.. Miss Margaret Pearson has written ,"A King Goes By"; Miss Helen . Gordon,: "The Signal"; Mrs. V. ,'larguse, "The Touchstone"; Miss lima Levy, "God Made' Two Trees"; and W. G. Alexander "It'll .Happen 'Again.''. Mr; Alexander is a pupil of Rongotai Boys? College, and is aged-16.' The play;is staged by the pupils of the college, the producer being Mr. A. ; S. Farquhar, a master of the college. Miss Elizabeth Lee, winner of the Fogarty Scholarship, was the guest of the Drama League at the festival last flight, and was the guest of the national executive at morning, tea at the Pioneer Club this morning,,prior?to leaving by the Monowai this afternoon for Sydney, en route for England.', "Design-for Living." Ernst Lubitach is about to celebrate his fifteenth year as a film director by making Noel Coward's play "Design for Living" for Paramount. During that time he: has directed twenty-three pictures, seven of which were produced in his native Germany. "Design for Living" is a daring presentation of . a different human triangle 'from any the screen has yet shown. Miriam Hopkins, who will portray its. central, figure, loves two men, to be played;by Frederic March and Douglas Fairbanks, jun., who love her and continue to remain boon friends. Myrna Loy. . After < considering more than a score of screen leading ladies for the main role in "The Worst Woman in Paris," a Jesse'L/Lasky- production for Fox Films. My-rna ■ Loy- was finally selected for the part: Harvey Stephens, brought from New York, where he was featured in the staige-production "The Party's Over," will play the leading role opposite her. "The* Worst. Woman in Paris" is an original by'Monta Bell, and will be directed by him.. The. story concerns the misadventures bfa.Parisienne cocotte who becomes stranded in a small Kansas town, where she i turns out to be the best woman in the State.; \ \ ; Actress's Ordeal. The charming German principal dancer inr'the London, success, "Casanova,"- Marianne Winckelstern,' had an unenviable experience . during the run of the play at London Coliseum. 'She had to fly from London to Berlin to answer a. charge of manslaughter, .and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment,' but provided she is of good behaviour for three years will not be called .upon,.to. serve the sentence. She was ordered to place a sum of £250 in security; and intends to appeal against the ; sentence. In the "meantime she is free to - carry on'Stagewprk. The dancer was driving her car in the west end of Berlin when she'knocked'down an engineer, who subsequently 'died from injuries received in falling. 'The defence was that the man had stepped off the pavement and, in the middle of the road, changed his mind. Miss Winckelstern'is only 22, and is a pretty blonde. She was called suddenly • from a small'village in Germany to be a • star in a. big Berlin. production. A to-' mantic manager, gave her: the stage name of Winckelstern, which means "the star in the corner," to mark-her rise to fame from village • obscurity. \ Tauber. ' A new-, starring vehicle for the world- i famous tenor, Richard Tauber, which has been, confidently described as the "best Tauber film yet,"-is "The Right to Happiness." A'sympathetic story, strong in emotional values, "The Right to Happiness" provides Tauber with opportunities for rendering some delightful song numbers, which are essential to the theme of ■ the';;film.,' The lilting number, "Song of i the the "Baby Song," the < highlight of..a charming scene in which : Taiibera* a*renowned tenor sings to his ■ tiny'daughter. Gloria, and the famous aria : frofrr "LaTosca," are _ but a few of the i musical-gems which will delight all'film- ; goeirs. ': •-.. ' \

"Paddy." There is a lot of activity. these days at .this beautiful point on the Pacific shores, 100 miles south of, San Francisco. A huge lighthouse is being erected, and an Irish fishing,village is taking shape under the direction of Fox Films.artisans. Scores of.Fox studio workmen and dozens of carpenters and merchants from this immediate neighbourhood are at work. Within a few days a fleet of Irish fishing smacks will sail into the harbour, a 200 ft yacht will cast anchor, and the whole countryside will gather in picnic stylo for a glimpse of Janet Gaynor and War-' ner. Baxter, aud ; other famous stars, for it is here that the opening scenes of "Paddy the Next Best Thing" are.to ba filmed. , , , . , Madame Winnie Fraser in Sydney. Since her arrival in Sydney, Madame Winnie Fraser, the popular New Zealand soprano, has been kept busy. • She was associated with Frunk Hutchens (pianist), another New Zealander, in a concert at the Town Hall, arranged by the Municipal Council, in conjunction with professional musicians, one of a; weekly series. The City of Sydney Orchestra,, augmented by other orchestras, provides the instrumental side of these concerts. The singer was also' engaged to broadcast' and was the, ;guest of the Musicians' Club and the New' Zealand Women's Club. ' "The Masquerader." Years before Ronald Colman made a picture of "The Masquerader," the play became famous as the third and greatest of the Guy Bates Post-Richard Walton Tully plays. "Omar the Tentmaker" was the first; "The Bird 'of Paradise" the second. United Artists will release "The Masquerader." '■:.*■■■-. Kate Smith. Kate Smith, America's* famous radio songstress, who makes her first appearance as the star of a full-length film in Paramount's "Hello, Everybody!" has never learned singing. She' is just a natural singer. At the early age of seventeen »he entered the nursing profession, but soon after she took a role in a musical comedy, substituting for one of the players who was ill, and from that time her singing career started in earnest.

"Ann Vickers." , Ann Harding, instead of Irene Dunne, as previously announced, is to be the star of'llKO Radio's screen version of Sinclair Lewis's best seller, "Ann Vickers." The change, according to Merian C. Cooper, is a result of the recent purchase of "Frivolous Sal," the current popular trend towards musicals, and the splendid opportunities afforded by the latter story for the singing as well as histrionic talents of Irene Dunne. "Ann Vickers" was made available, and Ann Harding was chosen to play the dramatic heroine. Yachtsman. Warren William, whose latest starring vehicle for the Warner Bros. First National Studios is "The Mind Reader" spends every minute he possibly can aboard his new sloop, sailing around the southern coast of California. Being an expert sailor, he scorns steam or electric motors, and does not even have an auxiliary motor on his boat. The sloop is a recent purchase and is called "Common Sense." It is a thirty-footer with jib and boom mainsail, and Mr. William handles it quite alone.

Screen: Father. Mary Pickford, who has had scores of screen fathei-s during her career,,boasts a former, international cricket champion as her parent in "Secrets." He is C. Aubrey Smith,- Cambridge man and eminent British athlete, who won fame on'the London and New York stage before he entered pictures. United Artists will 'release "Secrets." Apollos Next Month. ■ . . ' The next concert by the Apollo Singers, under Mr. H. Temple White's conductorship,' will be held on Thursday, September 7, when Felicien David's dramatic cantata "The Desert" will be given with the assistance of the 2YA Concert Orchestra. The last occasion on which this work was rendered in .Wellington was in 1927, when Mr. Temple .White conducted the combined forces1 of the Wellington C.T. Male Choir , and the Royal Dunedin Male Choir. Tlier revival of this'beautiful work by the • Apollos ■is arousing much interest. . ( "• "I Spy." The arrival of. the train provides an important moment in the story of "I Spy" for the chief players in the film— Sally Eilers and Ben Lyon, the Hollywood stars who thus make their British film debut—for the latter leaves the train to buy his fair companion some fruit and gets*- left behind through an unforeseen delay. Complications of a thrilling and humorous nature follow as a result.

Elisabeth Bergner. The London Film Production Company has secured the services of Elisabeth Bergner, the German actress, who is, according to the London "Observer," the greatest of . : Continental stars. She was' the original "Saint Joan" in the German version. She has also played Rosalind, Tessa in "The Constant Nymph," and, "Mrs. Cheyney" in the German .versions. She is described as small, and. her, type, in spite of her beauty', is that of the student rather than the actress. Her English, except for a trace of Viennese accent, is perfect. ' Drama. The perennial dramatic theme, the mystery romance, will soon furnish new thrills when Bruce Cabot and Dorothy Jordan assume the leads in a new story Just purchased by RKO Radio for the r 1933-34 programme. The story, "Hide in ,-fthe1 Dark," is a novel, by Frances Noyes, ■Hart, and is fortified with baffling mystery :'. and appealing love interest as1 it takes place on an eerie Hallowe'en in an old deserted Maryland manor. Cabot, who battles a fifty-foot ape in "King Kong," is believed to be an ideal choice for the virile, romantic hero of this thriller, rescuing Dorothy Jordan, his southern sweetheart, from . the clutches of. the menace. William Goetz has been assigned by Mcrian C. Cooper as associate producer and has already started plans, for the'story's filming some time, hence.

Kiepura and Hume. Jan Kiepura, the famous Polish tenor and Benita Hume, one, of England's mos prominent personalities, have both beei signed by .Universal. Miss Hume wil share starring honours with John Bole and Margaret Sullavan in "Only Yester day," which is about to go into produc tion,' and which is a dramatic story deal ing with the outstanding events of work interest in the last decade. Jan Kiepura' contract is for seven years. Many.havi hailed him as the second Caruso, and then is no doubt that brilliant as his careei has been so far,' the future holds un dreamed-of triumphs through the screen. Cyril Maude. An interesting announcement by : tin Gaumont-British Corporation concerns thi appearance of Cyril Maude in a talkii culled "Orders are Orders," which is. t< be produced by Walter Forde at the Limi Grove studio. In this film Maude will b< seen as the colonel of an English militarj barracks, who gets trapped into becominf a film star—until the arrival of.'thi general. Charlotte Greenwood is to plaj the role of. an. American' film lady in th< production. ' ' ' His Last Story. ....'. • Wilson Mizner,• famous .playwright, anc scenario writer, author of "Alias Jimmj Valentine" and a score of other Broadwaj successes, as well as innumerable stories for the screen, died in a Los Angeles hotel shortly after the' completion of his last story, "Heroes for Sale," which has been purchased by Warner Bros. First National Studios for Richard Barthelmess's latest starring vehicle. The picture, which has a most unusual plot, has-a cast including Loretta Young, Alma MacMahon, Gordon Westcott, Robert Barratt, Berton Churchill, and James Murray, as well as hundreds of extras. ; Cellophane. More than 20,000 yards of ■ cellophane were used by the Paramount costume department to outfit the "Cellophane Girls" appearing in one of the chorus numbers of "International House." New costumes had to be made for. each girl each day, as each was beyond repair after one day's wear. Each costume is trimmed in gold

"Miss Hook of Holland." The popular musical comedy, "Miss Hook of Holland," commences a season of five nights and a matinee on Saturday afternoon next. Many' beautiful musical gems are included in this bright entertainment, amongst which are "Sleepy Canal," "Little Miss Wooden Shoes," "Little • Liqueurs," "Love is a Carnival," "Cream of the Sky," and many others. The cast is a particularly brilliant one, and comprises many of the leading singers in Wellington. The ballets are novel and spectacular, and the chorus is strong. The whole production is under the personal supervision of Mr. W. S. Wauchop, which fact speaks alone for the artistic excellence of the show.' / ' "Only Yesterday." Of all the stage personalities who have gone into pictures this year, Margaret Sulkvau has the greatest opportunity of becoming a great star in pictures. Miss Sullavan. has been given, for her debut in films, one of the most coveted roles of the year, the feminine lead in "Only Yesterday."

In Rivalry. ■'■•■■• '~ A friendly rivalry has. sprung up be;t tween two of the outstanding feminine n stars- of Hollywood—Janet Gayrior and 11 Lilian Harvey. Janet'started it-by steals ing Lilian's personable young 'leading man •- —Henry Garat —for her co-star in "Ador- !- able." Lilian, who had played.in a dozen I- great European films with Garat, and who 1 was brought to ' Hollywood at, the same a/ time he was signed to a Fox Film contract, c naturally felt a bit taken aback when she c started to make "My Lips Betray," and r found her usual co-star hard-at work with i- Janet. She chose John Boles, but there was no personal satisfaction because John had never played with Janet. Lilian started scanning, the horizon, and finally c settled upon Lew Ayres, as the one man c she couldn't do without in her new-pic-e ture, B. G. de Sylva's musical,' "My Weak--0 ness." Ayres, it will-be. remembered, coe starred with Janet recently in "State B Fair." f ' 3 Climax. . a Stephen Roberts, the Paramount- direcV tor who won much ■ critical praise, for his c "The Night of June 13" and "Lady and Gent,"' believes in tackling the hardest part of an undertaking "first: Therefore, while directing his current picture, "The 1 Story of Temple. Drake," Roberts reversed ' directorial precedent by starting with the ' most dramatic sequences •of the picture, { rather than following the usual practice } of filming scenes in their order as seen on the screen. He did ; so on the theory } that his actors would be fresher and able to do better work. < i Peter Dawson Still in Australia. ' Peter Dawson and his brilliant associate 1 Senbr Arnaldo Tapia-Caballero, have been 1 detained in Sydney owing to the.enormous ' success of their concerts. Recently ' Mr. Dawson sang twenty-four songs in one night, including "And the Trumpet Shall Sound" (Handel), with grand organ and ! trumpet accompaniment. The young ; Chilean pianist has also achieved a great success in Sydney, where he has a big > following. Melbourne was next to be ' visited, and after a return season there, • the two visitors are to return to England. ' Mr. Dawson has been featuring, the songa L of new composers, for while he loves the old ballads, he also believes in encouraging the moderns, spurring them on to greater efforts. Escapes. Frank McGrath, who has a role in "Eaddy the Next Best Thing" once rode a horse over a cliff and fell with it 125 feet into the ocsan. He has crashed automobiles and aeroplanes, and , leaped from trains and burning buildings. His latest "stunt" in "Paddy" was to step out of a parked automobile to get his hat. He stepped out of the car and broke his right leg. ■ . Setting. A realistic farmyard reconstructed in the 8.1.P. studios, has-provided an original background for the new musical number which Stanley Lupino sings in his latest film "You Made Me Love You." "Why Can't We?" composed by Noel Gay to a lyric from Stanley's own pen, is. a catchy song in which romances in Nature supply the theme. It is 6ung by the popular comedian to Thelma Todd, the Hollywood star who plays opposite him in' this, her first British film, and she sits at a window in the farmhouse to hear this syncopated serenade. Theatre in a Skyscraper. A group of actors calling themselves Living Theatre Productions, Inc., have taken a lease of a small theatre on the 54th floor of a New York skyscraper, and propose to do nine plays there. The theatre is a charmng place, seating about 100; and is done in black and silver. The first play to be produced is "Around the Corner," by Maryverne Jones. Eden Gray, who was prominent in the international battle over the right of entry into England to act, was to head the cast. Diver "Drunk." Drunk on the ocean floor! This is an exciting incident in "With Williamson Beneath the Sea." A diver, wearing a self-contained diving suit, became intoxicated because the chemicals supplying the necessary oxygen .became exhausted and therefore poisonous. . The under-sea's flora and fauna and exciting scenes of divers amidst the ghost ships and denizens of the deep make one of the most entertaining pictures of the year. United Artists will release this picture. Daughter. Boots Mallory will be Louise Dresser's daughter for four weeks. She hasl been cast for the role of "Virginia Bannings" in "Life's Worth Living," the Will Rogers starring vehicle which has gone into production at Fox Movietone City. Miss Dresser portrays "Mrs. Lita Banning." ' ■